Blurb: Two very different civilizations—one bathed in bright sunlight and the other veiled in shadow.

Bad decisions, declining resources, and a king on the brink of madness force Prince Varo Kutchif, third son of the royal family and a starship captain, to attempt the impossible: barter for Black Phospolrock, an energy source the mysterious Helkan Kingdom has in abundance. Varo opens a line of communication with Adlar, an intriguing Helkan who seems to reciprocate Varo’s interest. He hopes so, because if negotiations collapse, Varo has orders to attack.

The Helkans preside over a planet shrouded in perpetual darkness. Several species have tried to exploit its natural resources through trade with them, but all have failed. Adlar Mondur is the older brother to the Helkan ruler. An assassin of the highest order, he’ll do anything to protect his king and his people—including tracking down the Yesri prince who crash-lands on their planet, leaving an ugly scar across its untouched beauty.

Thus begins a journey where two men from disparate civilizations grow from enemies to lovers.

Review:

I won’t go into much detail about the book because the blurb does a pretty good job of describing what happens without giving much detail away. What I will say is that I really loved the premise of this book. I loved that Varo and Aldar were not only different as characters but also as a species. It was interesting to see them uncover the similarities and differences between each other. I also liked that Aldar was so fierce and lethal while Varo was more innocent and naive, even if he was a starship captain. Also, I really loved how close Varo and Aldar got and how much the separation between them really affected both of them.

I really, really enjoyed this book. My biggest issue is there was a ton of sex in this one so it became very excessive for me. I ended up just skimming those parts because there were a ton, which was sad because there were certain moments of the story I would have liked extended or elaborated on but instead they were very brief or told instead of shown. Add to that, I wished the ending wasn’t so sudden and I was a little disappointed in how the traitor was handled.

All in all, though, I still really loved this story. I adored the whole premise and I loved that Adlar and Varo started out as enemies and then fell in love. I also loved the relationship between Adlar and Omori. I’d definitely be interested in reading a sequel, especially if it was about one of Varo’s brothers. Definitely give this a go if you want a sweet little scifi story!

Overall Impression: I really liked it!

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*